Terry was kind enough to give me 15 minutes last Thursday just before lunch. My goal: Find out what Terry plans to do about a couple of eye-catching lines in the Fresno State Athletic Corp.'s 2011-12 budget.

We all know that football and men's basketball are the two big revenue-producing sports at almost every big-time college athletic program. Fresno State is no different.

The Athletic Department's bean-counters expect gate receipts from six teams -- football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball -- to generate $6,507,355 in gate receipts this year. That's 26.7% of the nearly $24.4 million budget.

Football and men's basketball are projected to produce $6,144,355 at the gate between them. That's 94.4% of the overall projected gate receipts.

Men's basketball, though, is expected this year to produce only a net of $988,632 at the gate. That's about a third less than the projected gate revenues in 2010-11.

Granted, there are three fewer home games this year. Still, a one-year 32% reduction in estimated gate receipts is stunning. The university hasn't released the 2010-11 financial statement yet, so we don't know what actual gate receipts were in that season.

Here's another interesting number for the 2011-12 budget: Season-ticket sales this year are expected to fall 33.3% from last year's projection.

I mention this in light of the following context.

First, the nation is still in a serious economic slump.

Second, Athletic Corp. officials pride themselves on writing unsentimental budgets based on past performance and prudent projections. Hope, these officials say, plays no role.

Fresno State men's basketball gate receipts were $1.72 million in 2008-09 -- that's actual receipts, not a budget guess. Not bad when you consider that from May through September of 2008, prime time for season-ticket sales, everyone in America watched as Wall Street imploded.

Men's basketball gate receipts were $1.53 million in 2009-10. Not bad when you consider that at one point in 2009 the Dow was at about 7,500.

Something odd is going on with the budget guesses for this year's men's basketball program.

Steve Cleveland, Terry's predecessor, was kicked upstairs in large part because his mediocre teams had put the ticket-buying public to sleep. Fresno State moves next year into a Mountain West Conference that's full of programs with much deeper pockets than you'll find in the Western Athletic Conference. Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson estimates the average athletic budget in the conference is $38 million. Fresno State officials for years have viewed improved basketball gate receipts at the 15,596-seat Save Mart Center as the quickest and surest route to a wealthier athletic department.

A new men's basketball new coach arrives amid much fanfare, the program appears to be clean as a whistle, a new challenge beckons just over the horizon -- and the Fresno State budget gurus predict Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley will greet it all with indifference?

Paul Oliaro, chairman of the Athletic Corp.'s board, said the modest gate predictions for men's basketball are nothing more than the usual caution.

Paul Ladwig, Fresno State's senior associate athletic director, wrote in an email last week that he is "optimistic" about better-than-expected gate receipts in 2011-12. He said Terry has been busy on the rubber chicken circuit, speaking to business, student and ag groups to drum up enthusiasm.

Ladwig said his staff will roll out plenty promotions. For example, tickets for the Fresno Pacific exhibition game on Nov. 4 are just $5 a person.

How are season-ticket sales going? Too early to tell, Ladwig said.

Terry and his players will get their deserved support, Ladwig said, because fans will want "to see for themselves the start of a new Bulldog Basketball tradition."

Of course, it's not Terry's job to sell tickets -- at least not directly. His job is to put a winning (and compliant) program on the court and make sure his players earn their diplomas.

But as he made clear last Thursday, Terry knows the success of his career at Fresno State depends in part of his program's financial fortunes.

Here's a quick Q & A (edited for space and continuity) with Terry from 11:45 a.m. to noon:

Q: What's the key to building a fan base?

A: "As much success as we had on the court (at the University of Texas, where he was a top assistant for nine years), we had even greater success in the community because people felt vested in our program. They helped us build the program. There's nothing like having a sixth man as your friend. To do that, they have to know who we are, what we stand for and what our brand is."

Q: What is the Bulldogs' brand under you?

A: "We're going to be about playing hard-nosed defense. We're going to be about playing hard every night -- just laying it on the floor and letting the chips fall where they may."

Q: Why would Fresno and the Valley respond to such a brand?

A: "This is a hardworking community, one that appreciates the value of hard work and what it means. We're trying to change the culture of our program \[to\] one that is built on hard work. The guys come in every day and they put in a workman's day. They bring their hard hat every day."

Q: How about guaranteeing some wins right out of the chute?

A: "I can't guarantee outcome, but I can guarantee we can control preparation and effort every night. If you control effort and preparation, do the things you want to do defensively, and try to be a physical team and rebound, you give yourself a chance to win every night."

Q: Give us a sense of what you demand from your players.

A: "The one thing I preach to the guys on a daily basis is: There can't ever be any slippage in your life, on or off the court. Guys not going to class - that's not going to happen. Guys not having the right appearance - that's not going to happen. Guys not sitting in the first two rows of class - that's not going to happen. All those little things go into winning. If you have any slippage in your life off the court, how can I hold accountable on the court and demand the things I want to get done on the court with you? I want the total package. I want a guy who wants to be a man 24 hours a day."

Q: What are you doing to help market the program?

A: "I'm speaking to as many people as I can. As the main guy running the program, you've got to be very visible. You've got to be out in the community. You've got to reach out to all sectors of the community and have them embrace what we're trying to do."

Q: I hear you tweet as part of your marketing campaign. What about tweeting by your players?

A: "As you tweet, that's a live interview for you. I make that very clear to my team: You're giving an interview every time you tweet. \[If problems arise\], we'll take that privilege back. But until we have to do that, everyone is allowed to do it."

Q: This is Fresno State's last season in the WAC. The Bulldogs don't have a lot of home games. They play five Pacific 12 Conference schools, but only one (Utah, Dec. 3) in the Save Mart Center. What's your philosophy on scheduling?

A: "As a head coach there are areas you have to have firm control over. Recruiting, obviously. And scheduling is right there at the top of the list. You have to have a strategy in how you go about your scheduling. You play nonconference to prepare yourself for conference play. Next year, I think we'll get more \[scheduling\] on our terms. As you step up a level, it's very important that you have home contests. \[This year\] we have a very competitive schedule, one that prepares us for Nevada, Utah State and the WAC."

Q: Hmmm, recruiting. What's the future hold?

A: "Are we going to get better players in future? We're going to try like heck to get better players, no question. We're stepping up a level in competition. But that foundation has to be there. Everywhere I've been and we've won big, we won big because we had the foundation there. So, when better guys came in, they knew they had to buy into that foundation. If they didn't, I don't care how good they were - they're weren't going to play."

Q: Young people in college are still learning the rules of life. What do you tell your players?

A: "The good Lord has blessed you and given you an opportunity to get a quality education. You've got great health, you're doing something you love. There's no excuse if you're not putting in effort and preparation."

Q: You're engaged to be married. What do you and your fiancé think of Fresno and the Valley?

A: "We love the city. It's a great place for us. It reminds us a lot of Austin. Everyone has been very welcoming. There's a lot of passion and support and spirit for the university here. You can feel it everywhere you go around town. We've got a unique college town atmosphere. People want Fresno State athletics to be successful."

Q: What about getting lots of ticket-buyers in the seats at the Save Mart Center, and proving those Athletic Corp. accountants wrong?

A: "People are going to be supportive of what they feel good about. If they're really liking the brand they're seeing, they're going to jump on board. Everyone wants to support a winner. When you win, obviously people come."

Our interview at an end, I rose from the conference table and prepared to head back to the City Council meeting.

"Coach," I said, "have you lost weight?"

This was my first face-to-face meeting with Terry. In photos, he seemed to have the muscular build of a linebacker. In person, he's lean -- like a basketball player of the Bill Russell era.

After listening to Terry for 15 minutes, I thought: This is a man so focused on his mission that he'd skip lunch if it got in the way.

With the tape recorder off, Terry was more relaxed.

"No, I haven't, George," he said, laughing. "Is that why you're always talking about lunch?"

He got me. I had been talking about lunch. I told Terry I'd buy.

But not until the Bulldogs win their 20th this year.